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Dilemma: 2nd Gen Legacy JDM front clip


Would you try to make get the EJ20R to work if you had a RHD JDM front clip?  

11 members have voted

  1. 1. Would you try to make get the EJ20R to work if you had a RHD JDM front clip?

    • Yes, I'd try to make that happen.
    • No, thats a crazy idea.


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Enter the JDM front clip: at the end of this month my 98' JDM front clip arrives in Dallas. First thing I'm going to do is swap out the radiator support,lights, fenders, and hood at a friends shop. After I get the car looking decent I am faced with the thoughts on the engine. The front clip has all the wiring and ECU for a RHD EJ20R. The only guy I know that's made headway into making the EJ20R run here is Furman. There are some NZ second Gen people that have made mods to the motor and it's decent for under 400HP.

I'll have everything I need to convert my car to RHD. Its a hell of a project to take on. I'd like to hear from the experienced second Gen people on here and what they think about the EJ20R motor. This JDM motor is all over Dallas, because it's really not an easy fit for LHD USDM cars.

I know about the buying the rolled WRX and just going from there but this seems much easier since I'll have 1/2 of a car already in my possession for cheap.

 

The motor in question:

 

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/Rubenjc111/9B611175.jpg

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/Rubenjc111/3BF227A3.jpg

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/Rubenjc111/8F1E126D.jpg

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/Rubenjc111/D956C6F5.jpg

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/Rubenjc111/653EA435.jpg

 

Thoughts?

Questions?

Testimonials?

 

No flaming please. I'd have posted on NASIOC for the kids.

 

Thank you for any help on the matter.

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Nobody here has run the EJ20R except for me (that I know of).

 

Here are my thoughts :

 

The EJ20R is virtually the same thing as the EJ20K (v3 STI). Its a decent powerplant if you're wanting to make modest power.

 

I was happy with mine. I eventually had head gasket failure due to two reasons.

 

1 - I was a little too boost happy on some tunes. The GT3076R turbo @ 12 psi was a little much and damaged the head gaskets. The heads would lift off of the deck under high boost, causing coolant bypass....that was the beginning of the end for the head gaskets

 

2 - Design of the gaskets had part of it as well. The design of the EJ20R head gaskets are similar to the EJ25D, so they are somewhat prone to the same kind of failure. Add a lot of boost to the equation....well see point #1.

 

The powerband you can get with this engine is great. With the proper tune, you can get some quick spool times and you can get your power fast. The cams that come with the EJ20R heads (same as EJ20K) are amazing. The heads seem to flow pretty good as well.

 

Honestly, if you were to ask me if it was worth it....I would say go for it. I was more then happy with mine. On stock internals, you will be able to creep up around the 400 wheel horse power range without any major concerns of imminent engine failure.

 

If you do go with an EJ20R though, a few suggestions I have are

 

1 - Replace the head gaskets, timing components, oil pump, and timing belt before you install the engine. You don't know what kind of shape they are in. As far as head gaskets go, you need THICK gaskets. Stock size on the EJ20R is 1.6....over twice as thick as stock USDM engines. Your best route is to go to Cometic and have them custom make you either 1.6 or 1.8(if you're planning on running lots of boost) gaskets. IIRC, the timing kit that I had used was for an 02-07WRX and the oil pump was for the 02-07WRX as well. Valve cover gaskets were difficult to figure out, and I honestly can't remember what I wound up using. I do know that the USDM 2.0 and 2.5 turbo engine vcgs would not fit though.

 

2 - ARP HEAD STUDS. You can pick them up for $100 +/- $15 on Ebay. Any standard size set for the EJ205, EJ255, or EJ257 will work just fine. This will help prevent the heads lifting that I mentioned earlier. Be sure to disregard the standard torque sequence and specs though if you install ARPs. Use ARPs recommended torque sequence and specs.

 

If you're planning on running the stock EJ20R ECU with the stock turbo setup, you will need the right harness and do a harness merge just like you would if you did a stock USDM WRX/STI swap. I did a Megasquirt stand alone...and it kept me VERY happy. I was able to tune my car on the fly via my laptop. I was able to do everything from launch control, flat shifting, valet mode, etc with my Megasquirt. Stand alone is ALWAYS better...but there are the headaches that accompany it as well....usually most of them are during the install.

 

Any specific questions?

-broknindarkagain

My Current Project - Click Here

COME AND TAKE IT

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

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"I do know that the USDM 2.0 and 2.5 turbo engine vcgs would not fit though"

 

So, where did you find the proper Valve Cover Gaskets (VCGs) if none of the USDM (2.0 or 2.5) would fit? Did you re-use the JDM ones that came with the original motor?

 

Also, these guy in England bought an imported GT-B from NZ where they figured a way to make the twin scroll turbo's to run parallel and not one before the other:

 

http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/94493-legacy-twin-turbo.html

 

Guess the people over in NZ have this car figured out the right way. I suppose all these

Places are using RHD as well...

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nice link there, I normally don't like the look of morettes, but with a headlight cover they look pretty BA, I may have to make my own "Morette" style lights and go that route.

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/200/legacyzc3.jpg

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I love the wheels....and the color of that car. The morettes are really good looking with a cover too. However.....the damn rice spoiler on that car makes me angry lol....so do the mirrors.

-broknindarkagain

My Current Project - Click Here

COME AND TAKE IT

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

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I have ej20r >_> although mines stock, wasn't swapped in lol

 

Also, there are some NZ guys that have made mods to the turbos to make

Them run parallel and not use them as the "twin scroll" they as came stock. In NZ there seems to be lots of Subaru's on the road. Maybe I should make friends with some people/companys in NZ.

 

Also, is your GT-B BG a manual or auto? That's an awesome car! Incidentally, the GT-B held the record for the worlds fastest production estate car at 176mph during a period of time.

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Also, there are some NZ guys that have made mods to the turbos to make

Them run parallel and not use them as the "twin scroll" they as came stock. In NZ there seems to be lots of Subaru's on the road. Maybe I should make friends with some people/companys in NZ.

 

Also, is your GT-B BG a manual or auto? That's an awesome car! Incidentally, the GT-B held the record for the worlds fastest production estate car at 176mph during a period of time.

 

Manual, would never buy a turbo car that was auto really.

 

It's stock, completely. Although it's burning oil as of late when running on turbos a lot o-o

 

Only get 400km to a tank sadly haha

 

I do love this car though, so god damn much

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Cameron, thanks for that link! Reuben's GT-B limited thread is Epic! The NZ crowd has so much better development for Legacy mods. I'm jealous in every way of how epic the 2nd Gen Legacy came to it's finalle there. Just superior in every way.

 

I know, right?! I doubt I'd ever be able to go turbo on my wife's car, but I am trying my darndest to cosmetically transform that USDM GT BK wagon to the BG5 GT-B Limited look. No doubt that Reuben's black GT-B is my inspiration. The Limited bumper MAKES the 2nd-gen Legacy IMO. USDM BK GT's got screwed not only in power, but got screwed by:

lame headlights

lame grille

lame bumper

lame foglights

lame wheels (GT 16" snowflakes not so bad but I *love* them JDM GT-B 17's!)

lame suspension

lame mudflaps (JDM Spats / Aero Guards FTW)

lame side moulding w/ no sidemarker (at least the thick molding is practical)

lame mirrors ("Shrek ears")

lame taillights/garnish

lame unpainted side skirts

lame rear bumper/lower lip

lame rear badging

lame seats

lame roof rack (USDM BG's (Outbacks) got the same style as JDM, but BK's got that thick thing)

lame headgaskets

 

On the bright side... the USDM BK GT's got

Nice smooth roof

Nice sliding sunroof over the front seats

Nice LHD

and uh... uh... anything else? lol

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Are you planning on leaving the motor with the twin turbo's?? I've beening thinking of doing the same swap in my legacy for a few months now, I keep hearing that wiring for this is a bitch, as well as the turbo's not working so well as twins? Any clarifacation on this??
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as far as sedans, i prefer the USDM taillight center garnish over the JDM.

 

And I think that most would agree that the USDM BD trunk lid generally looks better than the JDM lid. Some have converted to JDM lids regardless, I suppose it is a fun change from the usual.

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